Scrooge and Cratchit Day!

My Wiley colleague Matt McHugh has something up his sleeve today. He’s hoping to get a whole bunch of people to buy the ebook version of his own ”Scrooge & Cratchit” today, in an effort to move it onto a bestseller list.  

You can learn more about the book here.

You can buy it on Amazon here.  It’s only $.99 in the US store, what are you waiting for???

Here’s the note from Matt:

Help me lift my little independent ebook into the Amazon Bestseller lists with a one-day sales spike.

On Tuesday, November 24, 2009, buy the ebook of “Scrooge & Cratchit: A Sequel to ‘A Christmas Carol’.”

The combined activity of multiple buyers on a single day can push a title to bestseller status and increase its visibility on Amazon. Yes, you’re giving me 99 cents (more like $3 outside the U.S…. Amazon gets most of it), but it’s the chance at publicity for an obscure literary work that’s truly valuable.

So, remember: help me out if you can on Tuesday, November 24, 2009.

- Matt McHugh

 

See details here:  http://scrooge-and-cratchit.com

 

Black Friday – Just Say NO

This morning, I  was reading through Twitter Moms and a fun contest caught my eye.  To enter, bloggers have to write a post about their Black Friday shopping strategies.  I was reading through the entries and struck by how creative these women were, and how many DEALS they were going to be getting for their families. 

Then I saw this post from a fellow WordPress blogger and thought, oh, that’s more me. 

Because, sure, I’d love to win a Target Gift Card (pick ME!  pick ME!).  But here’s the thing.  I don’t have any Black Friday strategies, unless you could total avoidance of the event to be a strategy. 

Crone is right on target with her post (target!  Nice synergy in that sentence.)  Black Friday ain’t what it used to be.  You’re lining up with a bunch of sweaty and aggressive strangers to try and snag one of two netbooks the store has…and you’re not going to get it. 

I shop at stores like Kohl’s, WalMart and, yes, Target because I expect to save money year round.  I don’t look to them one day of the year to entertain me with LOW LOW LOW prices while I zoom my shopping cart through the throngs of humanity crammed into a very small space.

In the past 10 years, the only thing I have ever bought on Black Friday was a skin for my iPod that I bought online at the Apple Store.  They hardly ever have sales, so that was the right time to take advantage of that opportunity.  The rumor sites say they will do the same thing this year, and Soccer Girl has her eye on a Touch for the holidays – maybe I’ll get lucky.  I bet Target.com has some sales, and I will check them out.  From the privacy of my own cozy home.   But no way, no how will I step foot into a store on Friday.  That, my friends, is a strategy for success!

Frank Pepe’s Yonkers Review

The opening of the newest Frank Pepe’s Pizzaria in Yonkers has been a most eagerly-awaited event in the IT household.  You see, we’re pizza geeks.  Can’t get enough of the stuff, carbs, South Beach and Atkins be damned.  We love a lot of kinds of pizza, where it’s Chicago style, NY style, thin crust, thick….the only common demonator is that it be GOOD PIZZA.

We first went to Pepe’s in Fairfield last year and loved it.  For a die-hard born-in-the-Bronx girl to be raving about New Haven style pizza, it has to be good.  So when we heard they were coming to Yonkers, we were jumping for joy.  They were planning to set up shop at the site of the shuttered Ricky’s Clam House on Central Avenue.  So close to us, it was unreal. 

Our friends Dave and Julie decided that we all had to be there the day it opened.  A day off from work was contemplated, to be there when the doors opened just after 11, but it was decided that dinner would fit with our plans better.  Dave wanted to be able to say, “25 years from now that he was there the night the joint opened,” fully confident that Pepe’s would indeed be there in a quarter century. 

Where's my pizza?!?!

When we got to Pepe’s around 6pm, there were lines out the door both for sit down service and take away.  We were lucky in that we didn’t have to wait more than 10 minutes for our table.  Of course, we had to wait a little longer than that for our pies, but that’s to be expected on the first night a restaurant is in business. 

Pepperoni pie

We ordered two large pies, an original tomato pie with mozzerella, and the same with pepperoni.  We found both pies to have surprisingly thick crusts, unlike the thin crust Pepe is known for.  I didn’t care for the pepperoni – I ordered it because some at the table were asking for a topping pizza, and I threw it out there.  I don’t really like toppings on my pizza, prefering to keep them pure.  The cheese and the sauce were right on, and it was cooked very well.  Not greasy at all.  We commented to the guy who seemed to be the manager about how the crust was thick, and he agreed, saying he’s been trying to get the pizza makers on board with the right way to do things. 

No, the pizza wasn’t perfect, but we know they are capable of perfection.  It was their first night, so we definitely feel they can be cut some slack.

The following Saturday, Soccer Girl had a tournament that ran till the early afternoon.  When we got home, we were both wiped (not sure why I was so tired, as I certainly wasn’t playing) and I did not feel like cooking.  So, we decided to go back to Pepe’s. 

We got there at 4:30 to find a healthy line out the front door.  Our wait wasn’t more than 5 minutes, which was good.

"Upskirt" shot

We ordered 3 pies this time (there were 6 of us, I will have you know).  A small “original tomato pie”, which is basically a pizza with no mozzarella, but a little grated cheese.  A medium “clam pie”, white sauce and no cheese.  A large tomato pie with cheese.  The first two came out after about 20 minutes.  I loved the tomato pie, even though I was a bit skeptical of a pizza without cheese.  The clam pie was well received by Mr IT and Julie – Girl found it icky, but who likes clams, anyhow? 

The third pie was a bit more, well, shy I guess.  After 10 minutes of eating, the manager came over to explain that they forgot to put our third pie in the oven, but it would be out in 10 minutes.  We dealt with it…really, we weren’t upset, and were rolling with the punches.  We had pizza.  It made us happy.

When the large pie finally came out, it was still a bit thicker than we have had in Fairfield, but it was good.  Not as greasy as other bloggers have experienced.  Just good.

So, it’s not pizza perfection.  Yet.  I feel strongly it will get there.  Many people are being hard on the place, expecting it to be at 100% from the get go.  Well, I’m sorry, that’s just not realistic.  We’re making the choice to have faith.  They expanded in Fairfield, and made it work.  They have another place in Eastern CT, and that too is working.  Yonkers will be there, and I’ll probably be on line to see it.  Heck, I’ve already made plans to meet a friend there on Saturday.  I’m getting addicted, and it’s happening fast.  It’s good to have a Pepe’s in the neighborhood.

* in the spirit of full disclosure, the second meal I refered to ended up being comped due to the issues I detailed.

Book Clubbing

All of a Kind Family

I got an email from another parent a few weeks ago alerting me to the fact that our girls and others had been discussing starting a book club.  What did I think, and was I willing to help run it, she asked.  I was thrilled.  I thought it was a great idea.  I was so happy that the girls wanted to read more and to talk about what they were reading. 

I’ve never been in a book club before (shocking I know) nor have I run one.  But I read – can there be more qualifications to head a discussion than that?

We talked a bit amongst ourselves about what books we might pick for the club.  We went back and forth between old classics and new books.  The advantage of the old classics is that we’ve already read them in most cases, and can bring the experience of reading them as a girl to our girls.  The new books might seem more exciting and relevant to the girls, but the parents aren’t going to be able to bring the same passion to them as we could to, say, Little House on the Prairie (do you know my girl has NOT read that book, or any other in the series???  Horror!) 

So when it came down to it, I knew there could only be one choice for my first book club book – All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor.  This series was one of my favorites growing up.  It’s the story of 5 girls growing up in a Jewish family on the lower east side of NYC.  I didn’t grow up Jewish, but I learned everything about Jewish traditions from these books.  Being an only child, the idea of sharing a bathroom and a single bedroom with 4 sisters didn’t seem so bad after reading about the adventures that Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie got into.  Imagine when the thrill of a week was the Friday trip to the library to get a new book for the week – these were simple days of basic pleasures.  Certainly we can convey a message to our about being grateful for the relative abundances that they have. 

Other books that I will be considering when it is my turn again are the Little House series and the Betsy-Tacy books – I adored the former growing up, but never read the latter.  I just got copies of the rereleased books and think the girls would really enjoy them. 

What books from your childhood are you sharing with the kids in your life?

Disney on Ice Ticket Offer and Giveaway

Most people who know me know I’m a Disney freak.  Inherited from my mom, and now passed down to my kids.  Soccer Girl’s favorite place on earth is Walt Disney World and she has written many a school paper on her experiences at the park.  IT Boy too is a fan, albeit on a smaller scale.  He’s obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney Channel.  It’s become his favorite show, surpassing that old standby,  class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=”">Spongebob Squarepants.  He loves doing the Hot Dog Dance - I think he’s emulating Goofy.  It’s a sanity saver for me, because it’s really the first show he will sit down and watch from start to finish. 

Last week, I got an emailing about a new Disney ice show coming to the NY area.  This seemed like the perfect family activity for us.   I used to ice skate regularly, so I knew I would have fun.  Girl would probably be ok with it, even the princesses, which she really doesn’t like anymore because middle school girls are not princess girls, humph.  Boy was the question mark, but something about the characters and the action tells me he might be ok sitting through the show.  You know, it’s not easy to find activities that the whole family can partake together and enjoy!

The kind folks at Feld Entertainment want to spread the word about a ticket offer they have for the shows at Nassau Coliseum, as well as the Prudential Center and IZOD Center in NJ.  You can get 4 tickets for $44 at a Monday-Friday matinee, or $4 off Friday night and weekend tickets by entering the code “MOM” in the MC promotion code box on Ticketmaster.  Minimum purchase of 4 tickets is required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each.  Offer not valid on Rinkside or VIP seating.  Cannot be combined with other offers.  Service charges & handling fees will apply.

Now, the Feld folks and Mom Central have been kind enough to give my family tickets to opening night at the IZOD Center, and to give me a four pack of tickets to give away to my loyal blog readers.  If you are interested in winning 4 tickets for November 24th, simply comment on this blog post and tell me who or what your favorite Disney character is.  You must post with your email address, and if I cannot contact the winner within 3 days, I will be forced to choose another one.  Creativity counts, but the winner will be selected by random number generator.  Contest closes November 7th at 11:59pm.  Winner will be selected when I wake up on November 8th.  Good luck!

Are you ready for some REAL football, aka soccer?

Another fall transition this year occured with Soccer Girl starting to play at a club team level.  She’s on a team in a new club that was formed by our local AYSO, called ADFH United.  The initals are for the three Rivertowns that comprise the club, namely Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry and Hastings.  No, I didn’t pick the name.  ADFH United is a part of Westchester Youth Soccer League.

She’s been having a great season so far, playing with many girls she played with last year on her AYSO travel team.  We love the old girls as well as the new girls.  Heck, the families are pretty awesome too.  We have a great time cheering the kids on during the games. 

Like many sports families, our weekends are devoted to getting the kid to and from games and practices.  Of course, it’s make easier by the fact that our home pitch is probably the best location for soccer in all of Westchester. 

ADFH’s Dobbs Ferry Waterfront pitch is right next to the Hudson River.  Gorgeous vistas and river breezes greet you as you settle down in your folding chair to watch your kids give it their all.  It’s right next to the pirate ship playground, so Boy can work off some pre-game energy before he’s strapped into his stroller to be stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey so he doesn’t fuss and complain and we can watch the match.  The place is just about perfect.  The only thing it’s missing is easy access to food and beverage, but at this weekend’s games, the Dobbs Ferry HS soccer team set up a table to sell sweatshirts and snacks, which I thought was just genius.  Pefection-on-the-Hudson even…

Here’s a shot of her team at halftime.  These photos were taken on my mobile, so I can only imagine how great the SLR shots another mom was taking will come out. 

So, if you hear me talk about going to watch the Girl play soccer, know that I am getting the best deal possible out of the experience.  And let’s hope those soccer boys return with the snack stand next week!

Transitions

*Not his actual bed

I freely admit I am no fan of fall.  Sure, apple picking, pumpkin carving and stunning foliage are nice, but they hide a bitter reality – winter.  I would be perfectly accepting of fall if it didn’t signal the return to dark days, scraping off my car in the morning, and snow and ice.  Sure, there are fall junkies out there who suck up the chill in the air just like it was a glass of freshly-pressed apple cider.  That’s not me, sorry. 

But as the seasons change, we have transitions.  In our family, IT Boy has been going through the most changes this season.  He started a program at a new school.  Instead of going in the mornings, he’s an afternoon school boy now.  He spends most mornings at my mom’s and then gets on the bus at her house to head to the school.  He’s in a CPSE program – self contained class, with 6 kids, 2 aids and 1 teacher.  Essentially, each kid has 2 helpers, which is a phenomenal ratio.  It’s slated to be a 8:1:2 class, so other kids could be added, but even so, we are so pleased. 

This school change came at the time of transitioning from Early Intervention to CPSE (preschool special education).  Some of his service providers made the transition with him, others did not.  He’s getting a similar level of services, some at home, some at school.  Overall, he’s done well, although he does have times where he acts out and gets a bit unruly.  Therapists are dealing with that as it comes up. 

Since he is an afternoon kid, he’s also had to give up on his naps.  This is without a doubt his biggest transition and what I think is probably most responsible for his, shall we say, moods.  We do let him nap on the weekends, and even if he protests a bit, he still goes down for 2-3 hours.  There isn’t really time to nap him during the week, so these naps will have to get him through. 

Another transition for him was moving from his crib into a bed.  He now sleeps on a twin mattress, which rests on a twin box spring, which rests on the floor.  Like with Soccer Girl, we felt a toddler bed was a waste of money, so we moved right to the bed, albeit with bed rails for safety.  The day I put the bed in there, we spent a lot of time in it, talking about  the “big boy bed” and exploring his new spiffy Mickey Mouse Clubhouse sheets.  He also has a set of SpongeBob  sheets, so depending on his mood, he has bedding to suit.  Overall, this was a flawless transition, and you would think he had been in a bed all his life.  If only potty training was this easy!  Yes, that’s next, but since he is showing no interest in doing anything on the potty, only in walking in on people in action in the toilet, we’re not rushing into anything. 

Our other transitioner, Soccer Girl, has made the move into Middle School look easy.  She’s adjusted to the changes well and seems to be doing well.  Since it’s *Middle School* (insert Halloween type scream here), anything can happen at any time, so we’re trying to be as prepared as any middle school parents can be.  Which is to say, hoping for the best, but preparing for the meltdowns. 

Hope your fall is going just as swimmingly.

Vaccination = yes. Flu mist = Hell NO

Last week, I took IT Boy and Soccer Girl to the doctor for their annual checkup.  Despite my making a point to remember what a horrible experience it was to take a physician-phobic 2 year old on a doctor appointment at the same time as his 9 year old sister, I repeated the error of my ways a year later.  Sure, hearing the doctor was difficult through his protesting screams.  Yes, it was painful being bit while trying to get him to lie still on the table.  Whatever. I survived.

What was a bit more in question this visit was flu shots.  Our doctor always recommends that both kids get the seasonal form of the vaccine, and this visit would have been no exception.  Except for the fact that they didn’t have any.  All they had was the mist form of the H1N1 vaccine.

I had resolved I was only giving them the seasonal vaccine, despite articles like this telling me it was ok and I should consider it.  Now I didn’t have a choice, and the doctor was telling me we should get *something* into the kids while they had it.  After some deliberation and a phonecall to Mr. IT on the train, we decided to go for it.

That night, Boy was fussy when I was putting him to bed.  He actually started wimpering, which is most unlike him.  About 1/2 an hour after he went down, he was sobbing.  I came into get him and found he was burning up, and would spend a feverish sleepless night with us in our bed.  Mr. IT kindly stayed home with him the next day.  I called the doctor (another pediatrician in the practice) who found it most unusual that he would have a reaction that strong, and suggested it was a coincidence.

My mother’s intiution told me it couldn’t be, but I agreed with him that Boy should stay home and rest, and if he still had a fever the next day to bring him in.  He did end up with a fever of 103 that night, and the next morning I did indeed bring him in to see his doctor.  We were both alarmed to see dried orange gook on his ear, which she immediately recognized as blood.  Sure enough, he had a massive double ear infection.  His right eardrum was perforated, and his left one was about to go.  She described it as a balloon being stretched over a rock…there was a ball of puss in his ear that big about to break through it.

She was horrified, and I was too.  The poor guy was in so much pain and now we knew why.  She prescribed a rather strong antibiotic which helped almost instantly.  We continued to douse him in children’s motrin and he got better rapidly.   

Why am I blogging this?  Well, it’s an interesting story for any parent to be aware of.  Your mileage may vary of course, but I would love to know if other kids getting the flu mist (H1N1 or not) have experienced such drastic ear infections.  I know my neighbor’s 13 year old who rarely gets sick had the mist and got an ear infection a day later.  Is there a connection?  Not sure.  I’m not telling parents not to vaccinate, certainly not.  I just wish Boy could have avoided the pain of the past few days – when the time comes for his next dose, I’ll be the first one looking for a big sharp needle over the mist.

Amazon vs WalMart and the $9 book

Last week, Amazon and Walmart began a battle of the behemoths as both brought prices on bestselling hardcovers down down down, ultimately to just about $9. 

It’s going to be interesting to see this play out.  Like the WSJ article suggests, it’s not just a book battle.  They’re only talking about low pricing on 10 books, not the millions that Amazon sells, or the 100’s that WalMart stocks.  The battle is more likely to be played out in other areas of the store where profit margins are more easily manipulated for the store’s gain. 

But I do see implications for publishers.  I don’t work for a publisher falling into this category, but I don’t imagine that they are taking a hit on the prices offered here.  Rather, WalMart and Amazon are taking the discount out of their profits, which at some point I suspect the books become a loss leader for them, leading customers to their marketplaces to buy more profitable items.

It does cause us to look at the $9.99 defacto price for ebooks as potentially a price that customers are looking at as the right price on bestsellers.  Will we lower prices to meet that?  Perhaps the question to ask is how we can publish to it.  Expect to see fewer of the 1000 page “mega-value” type books, and more of the “just what you need” titles in non-fiction reference.  Books where you can offer a lower price point, not by taking a margin hit, but by creating a product for that price point.  The implications are different for fiction, but I imagine that these publishers are having these discussions as well.  Creativity, while keeping in mind the needs of the customer, is what will keep publishers and publishing relevant.

If you like it, tell a friend…

Recently, I was the recipient of a note from someone in our sales group asking about why Amazon reviews for our books were dwindling.  Not in quality, in quantity. 

You see, as a book publisher, we actively encouage our authors to ask their friends to write Amazon reviews.  We ask bloggers and other key influencers to write Amazon reviews.  We ask our mothers and fathers who enjoy our books to review them on Amazon.  You name it.   It’s one of the most key things you can do to sell a book – have a positive review on it in the place of purchase.  But it’s happening less and it’s giving many of us cause for concern.

It’s simple to blame it on laziness, whether it’s on the part of the marketing team, the editor working with the book, or of the author.  But I really believe it is more than that.

I posed this very question on Twitter and Facebook some time ago and got really good feedback on why people think we are seeing fewer Amazon reviews for books.  I’ve summarized them below.

* There are too many other places that are book focused to review books.  GoodReads, WeRead, iRead and many other sites that are communities of book lovers have usurped Amazon in many cases as sites where people will review books.

* I’m more likely to review a book on my blog than to put it up on Amazon.  It’s not a step I think about.  In a sense, the process is more selfish – you review the book and you have content for your site.  You use Twitter to promote the review, but also to drive traffic to your site.  There really isn’t a similar benefit that Amazon offers. 

My ex-colleague Deb expands on that…

I do think that people are caring less and less about what strangers have to say about products and more and more about what their friends/ family/ colleagues have to say. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and things like Get Glue let us do this in new ways.

Tracee Sioux agrees:

People no longer feel the need to comment on blogs, Amazon, etc. b/c they can recommend or comment on their Facebook pages where their own intimates will know what they think and how they feel. Their compulsion to share is satiated.

* My colleague Graham from our UK office suggested that the novelty in writing these reviews and getting the recognition on the Amazon site has worn off. 

Writing a great review doesn’t get you a free product, notoriety, or necessarily kudos amongst your peers, so why bother??

* It can be complicated and annoying – Graham again…

I’d also add that the Amazon reminder system for writing reviews can actually get a bit annoying with several emails telling you to go review a product… and may actually have deterred some people from posting a review, just because they junked the email and didn’t follow up.

My dad adds:

A lot more than a little bit annoying. I buy 3 or 4 things at a time & they want a review from each seller. Also they will not let it go with just checking the number of stars.

 

Additionally, I’ve heard from international authors that they cannot post reviews on the US site unless they have an account and have made a purchase from it.  Vice versa applies as well.

 

So what can Amazon do better here?

 

1. Make it easier to write the reviews.  I know they put in a lot of roadblocks to verify the users as real customers, but it’s made it too difficult to write them.  Allow users with one Amazon account to post on different international sites. 

 

2. Enable ways to share reviews across sites.  No reason a great review from someone’s blog couldn’t go up on an Amazon page.  I’d love to see blogger with an Amazon button next to their Digg, Facebook, and Twitter buttons, that enables a review to be shared on the bookselling site.

 

3.  Find some way to reward people who write the reviews.  I know they have a “helpful v not helpful” vote feature – what about allowing people who write reviews to somehow get traffic back to their sites, even if it’s just on their reviewer profile page?

 

 Those are just a few – what ways do you think Amazon could encourage reviewers to write more reviews on their site?  How can authors and publishers work to get more reviews up on their books?